Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Natural Resources andEnvironment Tran Hong Ha, on behalf of the Vietnamese Government, has called oncountries to combine strength and coordinate actions in a more urgent, drasticand practical manner to protect biodiversity – a priceless natural resource.

Ha made the appeal at the online UN BiodiversitySummit, themed “Urgent Action on Biodiversity for SustainableDevelopment”, on October 1 (Vietnam time), which was held as part of the 75thsession of the UN General Assembly.

The event aimed to affirm the commitment toimproving the human-nature relationship, work out orientations for addressingcauses of biodiversity loss, and underscore the importance of biodiversityconservation in sustainable development activities and climate change response.It also looked to raise ambition for the development of the post-2020 globalbiodiversity framework to be adopted at the 15th meeting of the Conference ofParties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2021.

Speaking at the summit’s plenary session, Hasaid biodiversity is facing serious threats posed by human actions, especiallythe increasing wildlife trafficking, shrinking natural forests due to fire andlogging, and global warming triggered by climate change.

Such activities, with socio-economic developmentpurposes, have severely affected biodiversity in both the mainland and oceanson the global scale, he pointed out.

The minister stressed that it’s time for all,from leaders to civilians, besides using political and legal tools, to considerbiodiversity conservation a moral issue.

Urging joint actions to protect biodiversity,the official also suggested several actions such as building a green economybased on investing in natural capital instead of the current economy thatmainly relies on the over-exploitation of natural resources, integratingbiodiversity-related issues into development projects, viewing biodiversity as acrucial part of economic and climate change response solutions and as themeasurement of sustainable development efforts, carrying out effectivesolutions to urgently prevent marine plastic pollution, encouraging theformation of and actively implementing regional and global initiatives to dealwith environmental changes, and setting up a harmonious relationship betweenhumans and the nature./.